Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale sets the record straight over party politics

Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale (centre) when he joined civil society organisations in the 'Occupy Harambee Avenue' demonstration to protest against rising insecurity in the country. [PHOTO: GEORGE NJUNGE/standard]

UDF has clarified that you were expelled because you went against the Political Parties Act, which states that a person who, while being a member of a political party in any way or manner, promotes the ideology, interests, or policies of another political party, is deemed to have resigned from the previous political party. Please comment.

Party leader Musalia Mudavadi has no locus standi to expel me from UDF. He is not a registered official of UDF. I can only be expelled by the bona fide officials of the party if there is a reason for that, though I am aware that the matter is still pending before the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal. If it decides in favour of (Omar) Hassan, then it will come to a close but if it favours Mudavadi, he has a right to exercise his threat. That is when I will respond, which will be informed by the legality.

They hope to expel me under the Act but I am surprised that they can only read part of the section. Read to the end, the section allows a member of a political party to differ with his party as far as coalition is concerned. At no time have I ever supported any political party but a coalition called CORD. The Political Parties Act allows me to support CORD. That’s the law.

 

In the past, you have been a diehard critic of Raila Odinga, but you have now joined his coalition and have become one of its staunch supporters. What has changed?

This is not the first time I am working with Raila. I worked with him in 2002 when we all decided as proponents of good governance in this country to support Mwai kibaki against Uhuru Kenyatta who was a Moi project. He opposed me in the 2011 by-election, not by his own making but by Mudavadi being the ODM point man in the region who wanted to prove he was the kingpin of the Luhyas.

 

Raila Odinga has declared he will vie for the presidency come 2017. Moses Wetang’ula and Musalia Mudavadi have also declared that they will vie. What’s your take?

That does not worry me. I can assure you that what worries me is whether the dealers will make a good president. We have many members of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ethnic community today who regret voting for him purely on ethnic considerations. Now the economy is suffering, security is in tatters, unemployment is rising by the day, all infrastructural projects that President (Mwai) Kibaki started have stopped. I don’t want to be one of the Kenyans who regret. What concerns me is who will make a good president for Kenya.

 

Senate has vowed to go to court if the President assents to the Mining Bill passed in the National Assembly but the drafters of the Constitution did not demarcate the upper and lower houses clearly so that bills from Parliament should pass through the Senate before presidential assent. What is the bone of contention between the two houses?

No one should ever blame the drafters of the Constitution because they did an excellent job. The draft they presented to the 10th Parliament concurred with best international practices in the US, Canada, Australia and other nations. However, a group of politicians led by their own personal and selfish interests went to Naivasha and created a weak Senate. I am convinced that during the next round of referendum, we must correct this. There’s no shortcut; we must amend the Constitution and align it with the best international practices.

 

Some Senators have been very vocal against the calls for a referendum. It’s ironical that the same people are crying that the Senate is being overlooked. How then are you going to correct the wrong?

To me, the dilemma they find themselves in is a choice between personal and national interests. The interests of the nation are that we must remove, once and for all, this controversy of the inability of the Legislature to function as a bicameral system to save devolution, but the personal interests are that they have to serve their masters who have not yet committed to devolution.

 

You are the chairman of Senate’s Public Accounts Committee and you have been on record accusing governors of failing to account for money allocated to county governments. Why are you then advocating for increased allocation of funds to counties yet governors have been unable to account for what they presently receive?

We are not only asking for 45 per cent to be devolved to county governments but also want to strengthen the Senate. Once more funds at county level find a strengthened Senate, we can stamp out any attempts by any governor to try and abuse the funds. The answer lies in the same referendum - a strong Senate and more funds.

 

Two years since the inception of devolution with regard to how counties are being governed, do you think devolution is on track?

Devolution is on track. As a senator, I will do anything to make it better. As we ask for more funds and demand a strengthened Senate, we are merely perfecting. Devolution is working alhough we could make it better. Various governors like the ones from Garissa, Tana River, Samburu and Kwale have demonstrated that devolution is working in their areas. Things that never happened for 50 years are happening today. So the one or two governors who are failing cannot make us crucify devolution.

 

You are the senator of Kakamega County and have continuously criticised Governor Wycliffe Oparanya. What is not going right in the county?

Although I support CORD, my appeal to my good governor is that there is a big difference between coalition politics and the pursuit of the policies of good governance. You can be in my party but if you are not perpetuating good governance policies we will continue to be at loggerheads. Remember when I was the chairman of public accounts, I was accused of being used as a gun for hire to hit at Amos Kimunya (then minister of Finance). But over time, I demonstrated that I was not driven by ethnic considerations because when Mudavadi was caught up in the cemetery scandal, I came against him; when Wetang’ula was caught up in the Tokyo scandal, I came against him and when Deputy President William Ruto was caught up in a maize scandal, I came against him and many others because I am committed to good governance. I only want Oparanya to govern our county well.

 

A report by the Ministry of Devolution and Planning indicated that Kakamega is the poorest county. What is your opinion regarding this report and why was it rated the poorest?

The reason you see this confusion is because mathematics is not easy. The newspaper reporter did not understand the figures. Yes, Kakamega contributes the highest poverty not because it is the poorest but because it is the most populous in the country. If you are the most populous and someone is looking for most poor people, you are likely to find them in the most populous region. There was misunderstanding by the reporter.

 

The Luhya community has numerical strength but when it comes to voting, the community performs dismally. What is the problem?

There are two aspects to that question. First, the role of leaders and second, the role of voters. Since the leadership has perpetually been divided, it has also affected the role of voters because they become disillusioned. The reason why the voters, for the first time in 2002, became behind Kijana Wamalwa was because he had finally demonstrated leadership. At that time we registered best voter turn-out and the best results in terms of Luhya unity. This is a clear demonstration that the current leadership should demonstrate to Luhyas that they have captured the national imagination. Voters didn’t go behind Kijana Wamalwa because he was calling for Luhya unity meetings but because he demonstrated that he had captured national imagination.

 

There have been calls for Luhya leaders to come together and nominate one who you will all support come 2017. Why is it so hard for Luhya leaders to have one person they will all support?

Let me give you three examples. When Kibaki and Uhuru became the kingpins in Central and Raila has remained the kingpin in Nyanza, they did not demand it but earned it. Remember when Uhuru was vying, Martha Karua and Peter Kenneth were there. For whatever reason, they decided Uhuru had earned the position. Let the Luhya leader who emerges as the kingpin be the one who has earned it. For all we care, it could be someone who is not even in play at the moment; it could be me, or it could be Wetang’ula. Whoever it is, let it be the man who has earned it.